Fairy Tale Spotlight: Samuel II [Book Review]

"Samuel II" is the tenth book of the "Holy Bible," and it was written by Gad and Nathan. It really should have been called the book of "David," being that it has everything to do with him and literally nothing to do with Samuel.

David is a very interesting king in that he had about 1% of the flaws that Saul had in "Samuel I." He was a strong king that trusted in God so fervently that it just about made him invincible against anything that was thrown at him. That sort of trust is remarkable if you consider how often the Israelites failed. Oh, they failed so gosh darn much!

He did mess up though. He sleeps with the wife of a man and then has him killed in a roundabout way. Basically he sends him to the forefront of a battle in order to assure his demise. When he is told that he has done wrong, David immediately takes responsibility. He is told the son he shall bare with the woman will die, and so he does. At no point does David not show regret for what he did, and he never does something like that again.

There was another, less notable, moment where David takes a census of his people. At the time, there was a rule that those who are counted in a census must pay the Lord ransom for his life at the time he is counted, and this was likely not respected. Once again, David realizes his error and takes responsibility for it by allowing a short time of pestilence afflict his people. Many died.

David also has to content with his son Absalom who momentarily takes over the throne and sends David into exile. David is a strange person who is very sentimental about certain things. He won't touch an anointed king, as with Saul, and he doesn't want to harm his own son... even if that son wants him dead. Throughout this trying time, David is protected by God, despite the fact that many people have turned against him, however Absalom ultimately is killed shortly after accidently getting stuck in a tree while riding his horse. It wasn't David who did it. I'm pretty sure David would never have actually killed his own son. He did morn his passing though.

Towards the end of the book, David shows his poetic side. It was a pretty good song. Despite the translation, it read really fluidly and was even catchy. The whole poem was pretty much about how trusting in the Lord he was and how God had been strong in him for his entire life... and this is very true. He really could boast this thing. It was very apparent that, despite his few faux pas, he really was loved by God.

I do recommend the book of "Samuel II," even though the name doesn't make much sense. It really is David's book. If you are interested in what he was like as king, then this is the one you want to check out. Enjoy.

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Fairy Tale Spotlight: Can God Make Mistakes?

The answer to this question is solidly written into the "Holy Bible" in multiple instances, but the correct answer, according to modern organized religion states that you absolutely must answer in the negative. "God can make no mistakes," must be the unequivocal response. Anything other than that is pure blasphemy. But there's another reason why I never bother with organized religion. The dogma is so incredibly suffocating.

But does this mean that God can make mistakes? The answer is a fuzzy "yes and no." I'll try and explain both of these answers the best I can. Pay close attention; I had to do it myself during this research.

If the answer is "Yes."

I'll give you two early examples of God claiming to have made a mistake. Right before the Great Flood and the story of Noah and the Ark, God repents that He ever made humans at all. To repent of something is to express regret for doing something. In other words, He felt that it would have been better if He had never made humans at all. In this manner, He considers it a mistake to have done so.

A second example comes in the form of the first king of Israel, Saul. For all intent and purposes, Saul honestly did look like a good pick for King. Even I think so. God loves humble beginnings for His leaders. Who better to choose than a simple person out looking for his lost donkeys? But somewhere down the line, it seemed that there was something extremely wrong with Saul. He made a lot of awful decisions and did not seem to understand the wrongness of them.

God's reaction to Saul messing up was almost laughable. Not only did He regret anointing Saul as King, He seemed rather emotional about it. When Samuel seemed to feel for Saul's shortcomings, God asked him why he was feeling bad for such a ridiculous person. This whole thing suggests that God, at one time, liked Saul, but then realized that it wasn't working out and wished He had never bothered with him.

These two examples show God's regret for doing something. Regret denotes that a mistake has been made. This concludes my argument that God does indeed make mistakes. But now...

If the answer is "No."

There is a solid argument in why it is still correct to say that God makes zero mistakes, and that has much to do with what I have, in past, called the Creation Tiers. It has to do with the fact that we exist on a different plane than does God. Everything God does creates our reality. He can change our reality, but there is nothing we can do to change His.

Because of this, every "mistake" God makes, is simply a reality or obstacle we have to overcome. We don't really have a say one way or another when it comes to the actions of God. In a very real sense, it's none of our business. We are not in the right Creation Tier to judge Him. Since everything came from God, He is the standard by which all things are judged anyways. So to point a finger at Him and say, "What you did was a mistake!" would be a little odd since God was the very origin of the standards used to judge those so-called mistakes to begin with. It's backwards thinking.

The only reason the former argument can even be made is because God openly claimed to be wrong about something Himself. So we can say to one another, "God said He made a mistake," but what we cannot do is say, "It seems to me that God made a mistake," because we are in no position to properly judge Him. We can only take God's word for it.

As a side note, we are well within our right to judge Satan on his mistakes. This is because Lucifer is on the same Creation Tier as we are. He may be a vastly more powerful being as we are, but he is only one level down from God. So are we.

Conclusion

At the end of the day, it is all a matter of perspective. You can try to see things from God's perspective. It is a very difficult thing to do, for sure. There are reasons why both answers to the question are true, but only when you apply the proper perspective to either. Just remember that you still have to deal with reality the best that you can. It is your job to live this life on the Tier that you were born on. Let God deal with His own business, and you deal with yours. Hope this clear things up a bit.

Thank you for reading my blog! Did you enjoy it? Either way, you can comment below, or you can email me at tkwadeauthor@gmail.com. You can also visit my website at www.tkwade.com. Check out my books! Thanks!

Fairy Tale Spotlight: Samuel I [Book Review]

"Samuel I" is the ninth book of the "Holy Bible," and it was written by Samuel himself, then followed by Gad and Nathan after he dies. I cannot fully vet these authors, but it was the best research I could get.

Samuel was a prophet of God, starting fairly young and remained a prophet until he died. Here was a very rare moment where a book actually explains how someone actually hears God speak. The first time Samuel hears God, he actually thought it was someone else talking to him. This suggests that he does actually hear a clear voice coming from someone unseen, but as if they were right there. Fascinating!

The book unfortunately goes pretty south (not as in badly written) when the Israelites ask for a king. They do this because they want the prestige that all the heathens have. God intended for Him to be their king, but they want a regular human, and they won't be persuaded any other way.

The first king of Israel is Saul, who was out looking for his donkeys at the time he is found by Samuel and later anointed as king. How do I put this... He's a moron. He is and remains a moron for the entire book of "Samuel I." I'll go so far as to say he was likely mentally deficient as a human being. Something was wrong with him. There was no other person like him up to that point. He was so bad that God actually repents that he ever put him there as king.

God made a mistake? From His perspective He did. That's really none of our business. God can claim He made a mistake, but he can't tell Him that. I have, for a while now, believed that God could make mistakes, but that his mistakes were simply our reality. We have no business accusing him of anything.

David was the next in line, but it was some funny business that happened this time around. Saul actually liked David, but when David actually proves he is a better Philistine-killer than him, he becomes sore jealous to the point that he hunts David down to kill him. But David won't retaliate because Saul is the anointed king of God! Nevertheless, David was also protected by God and went on to be a much better soldier.

Although God did not remove Saul as king, He was pretty much done with him. Saul was allowed to play out his time as King until it all fell apart. It did not seem like God was helping or hindering him aside from plaguing him with the occasional evil spirit. Even so, Saul remained king for a while and ultimately takes his own life to prevent being killed by the enemy. I honestly don't think God even cared that he died. David was his new favorite.

One weird moment that happened towards the end of Saul's life was when he consults a witch to perform a séance to communicate with the ghost of the then departed Samuel. I cannot comprehend how it worked, but somehow Saul was able to communicate with the ghost of Samuel. The connotations of this lead to some very uncomfortable questions that I won't go into here. Just know that this sort of thing shouldn't happen. There's possibly some things about it that I just don't understand.

So there it is! The book was fairly action packed with ups and downs. I'd also like to point out that the Goliath scene was in this one. Must have been pretty damning to Saul when David only kills the giant with a pebble. Oh, and I can confirm that Goliath was a very strongly built 9 foot tall person. He was taken out by a kid that was touched by the hand of God. That's some pretty awesome fairy tale lore. And yes... I do believe that this particular fairy tale is true. The book is highly recommended.

Thank you for reading my blog! Did you enjoy it? Either way, you can comment below, or you can email me at tkwadeauthor@gmail.com. You can also visit my website at www.tkwade.com. Check out my books! Thanks!

Fairy Tale Spotlight: The Wishing Horse of Oz [Book Review]

[Spoilers for a old book nobody reads anymore.]

"The Wishing Horse of Oz" is the twenty-ninth book in the L. Frank Baum Oz series. It was written by Ruth Plumly Thompson and published in 1935. To add a little more perspective to where I am in the series, Baum wrote the first Oz book in the year 1900. He wrote fourteen of them, and this is the fifteenth by Ruth. Yes, I read all of them up to this point.

"The Wishing Horse of Oz" continues the surprisingly strong writing of Ruth Plumly Thompson which seemed to begin with the previous book called "Speedy in Oz." There are a lot of notable moments happening in this one. For one, Oz is having a huge celebration pertaining to the discovery of Oz by mortals. The Wizard of Oz (whose real name is Oscar Zoroaster Phadrig Isaac Norman Henkle Emmannuel Ambroise Diggs) was the first to arrive. He was followed by Dorothy and then many others after her.

Dorothy was the main protagonist of this one for the first time in quite some time. This was a breath of fresh air for me. I like her! I've always liked her. She is a wonderful character, and I really did miss her. By this time, Dorothy and her folks actually live in Oz and shall remain ageless for as long as they do. This has been the case since the very early books.

Now, as to the plot, something really strange and surreal happens to Oz during this monumental celebration. Suddenly, Ozma and all the other rulers of Oz poof out of existence, and the throne is taken over by Emperor Skamperoo and his white steed Chalk. Nobody but Dorothy notices the change. It was like the minds of everyone was spontaneously corrected to change with the event. As I read this, I was reminded of my favorite Star Trek: The Next Generation episode, "Ship in a Bottle," where a very similar thing happens to Doctor Crusher.

The incident was surreal and genuinely scary. Dorothy was driven to tears and almost madness as she tries desperately to find someone who knew about what had been happening for the last 20 years. Everyone just acted like she was delirious and claimed that Emperor Skamperoo had been the ruler of Oz for all of history. Can you even imagine what that would be like? Ruth did... because she shows Dorothy having a stark mental break down as this strange thing happens.

Dorothy ends up partnering with another reoccurring character named Pigasus. Yes, he is a flying pig. Pigasus is actually telepathic. He can read the thoughts and mind of anyone who sits on his back. Once Dorothy did so, he suddenly realized what she was going through. For this reason, he was the only citizen of Oz to bother helping her.

The book, although still representing the whimsical nature of Oz, remains a far more personal and serious telling of the horrible thing that was happening to both Dorothy and Oz. In her effort to find someone else in Oz that knows the true history of the country, she finds out that everyone in the entire land seems to also only be aware of the alternate history. The exception lies with a hidden witch named Gloma living in the north.

Gloma is actually a second witch living north of where Glinda lived, but she enchanted her realm to be completely black to avoid being noticed. She did this because she heard of a little girl who had successfully murdered two other witches. Once confronted with that same little girl, Gloma tried to murder Dorothy first. I'm not joking. She tries to do it three times, no less.

Dorothy also has a rather brief meeting with the current Gnome King. This isn't the original Gnome King (Ruggedo), who has been known for being the arch villain of the series. This is Kalico, the king who succeeded Ruggedo. He's still a selfish jerk, but he is a lot more manageable politically.

A new character named Bitty Bit, who is a flamboyant Seer. He was able to unravel the entire plot, and I actually enjoyed the way he did it with such pride. He is the sort of psychic that, as soon as he meets you, will touch his head and tell you your names, where you came from, what you're going to do, and so forth. His weakness is that, although he can figure out what's going on, he has trouble deciding on what should be done about it. But in conjunction with other wise folk of Oz, he is actually a very useful person.

I'll not spoil the ending. In fact, I am going to leave it here. I highly recommend "The Wishing Horse of Oz." It continues the fabulous writing of Ruth Plumly Thompson which is most certainly picking up at this point. The books are also becoming novel length. I totally look forward to the next one!

Thank you for reading my blog! Did you enjoy it? Either way, you can comment below, or you can email me at tkwadeauthor@gmail.com. You can also visit my website at www.tkwade.com. Check out my books! Thanks!

Fairy Tale Spotlight: Columbo: The Game Show Killer [Book Review]

[Very minor spoilers.]

I recently started looking through a very interesting list of used trade paperback books on the internet, and I had a silly idea while doing it. The idea was in the form of a question: Were there ever any Columbo books? The answer quite surprised me! There were indeed quite a few of them--every last one of them out of print. Luckily, they were still available, and I happily picked one out.

"Columbo: The Game Show Killer" is a book written by William Harrington and published back in 1996. Funny thing about that date: Most of the books I read are a lot older than that. I tend to read mostly classics, but there are times that more modern books catch my eye. I loved the title of this book, and I just had to know what it was all about.

Don't worry. I won't spoil much. I'd be a rotten person if I spoiled even a small part of a mystery book. But wait... is a Columbo story a mystery? Well... no. It really isn't. Columbo is first and foremost a detective story... not a mystery at all. The reason for this distinction is that they spoil the entire crime right at the beginning. There is no mystery. You know exactly what happened and how. Only... Columbo does not, and that's the thing. That's why it's a detective story. It's all about if and how he manages to figure out what you, the reader, already know.

Now, this is really a wonderful book, and I do need to give credit where it is due. The author, William Harrington, captured the formula and the man known as Columbo with precision. And it wasn't only that: he was a very straight forward writer who knew perfectly how to relate with his audience. I'm giving him some major props, because I had never even heard of the man before I read this book. William brings Columbo to life. I honestly feel even a little closer to this fictional character after reading it.

William understood that the little things in life matter. It's not always about the crime or how to solve it. It's about Columbo and what makes him tick. Why does he obsessively wear that dirty, old coat? Why can't he ever come up with a name for his dog? (He called it Dog with a capital D.) How come he refuses to get rid of his crappy, weird French automobile? These are all important in their own way. They make up the collective strangeness that forms into Columbo himself. And although these questions are not entirely answered, they are addressed in a way that charms us much in the way that he charms the criminals he's trying to pursue.

The plot of this book was great! As usual, the villain is high profile and a genius. This is the standard for anyone hoping to pick up the villain role in a Columbo story. They must have a demonic level of intellect and be in an incredibly large position of power in order to be taken seriously. The author did not disappoint, delivering a defense lawyer who organizes a murder with the intention of getting the murderer off Scott free through his genius legal manipulations. I won't say anything more than that, but his work as a villain was extraordinary.

I do highly recommend this book. There are copies of it still floating out there, all used. It captures the formula of the show but expounds on the man in ways only a book can. Bravo, William Harrison. I'll be looking for more gems from you in the future!

Thank you for reading my blog! Did you enjoy it? Either way, you can comment below, or you can email me at tkwadeauthor@gmail.com. You can also visit my website at www.tkwade.com. Check out my books! Thanks!

Fairy Tale Spotlight: What is Normal?

I ask you the question, "What is normal?" And yes, I intend to assist you with an answer. Normality is something of a comparative adjective. It requires an abundance of either something or nothing in order for it to make sense. If something is normal, it is because there are an abundance of similar things that ultimately dictate what can be considered normal. Normality is perceivable but not necessarily subject to any opinion.

If every person on the planet had six fingers on each hand, having six fingers on each hand would be normal. The odd human who had only five fingers on each hand would be abnormal, though I'm sure he'd be a fine fellow regardless. However, as it stands, having five fingers on each hand is normal.

Normality, in some circumstances, can be altered over time. The only thing that needs to chance is the vast circumstances relating to what is normal. In one century, normality may dictate that people should stand up when a woman enters the room. In the next century, hardly anyone is doing it, therefore the act is no longer normal. Opinions changed on what should be done when a woman enters into a room and so what was once normal is no longer normal, because it isn't happening as much anymore.

What we consider to be miracles are not normal. They hardly ever happen, which makes them rare. If people rose from the dead constantly, we wouldn't think anything of it. It would be normal.

If everyone has the same disease, then that makes that disease normal. Someone without the disease would be considered abnormal.

From what I have noticed, most people are lazy and apathetic. Entirely normal. If you do not strive for anything more than wasting your lives away, then I would congratulate you on being 100% normal. Most people are like you. You need not fear. You are absolutely among the normal people.

And I guess I've made my point. The truly extraordinary people in the world are not normal. Unusual people tend to catch our attention. We see them and notice them and sometimes even hate them for their abnormal nature. Abnormal things tend to have power because they bother to break cycles in this world. Normality holds people back because they are required to conform to a mass lethargy. Normality is a rut. It's boring. It's often uninteresting. It's also well-sought after. People want to be normal. People are expected to be normal. My only concern is... who or what is dictating what normal is supposed to be?

For me, I'd rather just be myself and figure it all out on my own. I'm not too concerned with what everyone thinks something should be. I just sort of go with my heart. Normality is a bit too sticky for me. I'd really rather be free of it entirely. I will never be you. I shall always be me. Because of this, I simply cannot be normal.

Thank you for reading my blog! Did you enjoy it? Either way, you can comment below, or you can email me at tkwadeauthor@gmail.com. You can also visit my website at www.tkwade.com. Check out my books! Thanks!

Fairy Tale Spotlight: Ruth [Book Review]

[I spoil all the milestones of this book.]

Dang! I feel like I just finished with "Judges," and here I am again with another review! What happened? Well, as it turns out, the next book in line was pretty darn short. I hesitate to even call it a book at all. But whatever.

"Ruth" is the eighth book in the "Holy Bible," and it is traditionally believed to have been written by Samuel. It is a whopping four chapters long. Admittedly, I had some difficulty understand what was going on in this one. I did consult some cliff notes after the fact, and I was happy to see that my intuition was pretty spot on. I just doubted myself is all.

I won't get into every, little detail of the story. It focuses almost entirely on a woman named Naomi and her daughter-in-law Ruth. Naomi is sort of like a female Job, insomuch as she has everything taken away from her. Everyone dies and she loses most of what she owns. It gets so bad that she tells her daughter-in-laws to leave her to suffer. She does this out of compassion for them.

Ruth choses to stay with her though while Orphah, the other daughter-in-law, does not. Ruth cannot stand the idea of leaving Naomi to her misery. This outstanding compassion from Ruth, who is not even an Israelite, is one of the most wonderful moments in the book. It rather dwarfs the rest of it.

Things turn out well for them though. Ruth ends up getting a job under a wealthy man named Boaz as a handmaiden, helping him to harvest his crops. As it turns out, he is a relative of hers, which means they can be married. Yes, things were a little different back then. Under the guidance of Naomi, Ruth submits to him in the hope that he will accept her.

There's only one problem: Boaz is not next in line to inherit the estate. He does however tell the one kinsman who is in line about the situation, and this kinsman takes off his shoe and gives it to Boaz, which is a sign that he is giving up the right. I found that amusing! Ancient traditions are fun to read about sometimes.

Anyways, Boaz and Ruth get married. Naomi is naturally taken out of poverty. The couple have a son named Obed, who later has his own son named Jesse, which ultimately leads to none other than David himself.

"Ruth" is a difficult read because it assumes and involves ancient traditions that are far removed from what we see in this day and age. I still managed to follow it though, although I still checked up on it just to be sure. It's a solid recommendation, but perhaps the King James Version is not such a good idea for this one. Either way, it was a good, very short, book about women and the real reason why they are, at times, truly remarkable.

Thank you for reading my blog! Did you enjoy it? Either way, you can comment below, or you can email me at tkwadeauthor@gmail.com. You can also visit my website at www.tkwade.com. Check out my books! Thanks!

Fairy Tale Spotlight: Judges [Book Review]

"Judges" is the seventh book of the "Holy Bible, and it is traditionally believed to be authored by Samuel. Where it is the best written and busiest book written thus far, it ultimately has a very sobering epilogue.

I had, of course, been looking forward this this one, since it involved Samson, the very judge that I wrote one-third of a book about. I didn't really know about the other judges though... and I wanted to know about them. Interestingly, all this extra bit of research did for me was prove that the book really was all about Samson to begin with.

That is not to say that the other judges did not have interesting moments. It's more that they sort of came, did their thing, and then promptly died in an orderly manner. With Samson, you had an angel announce him, he had a super power, he had to be born a Nazarite, and he had one of the most epic deaths of anyone in the Bible, save Jesus himself. None of the other judges come anywhere close to this.

The other judges were still interesting. In brief:

1: You had Ehud who stabbed a fat man so hard that the entire knife went in, with the skin closing in around it.

2: Deborah, a prophetess, wrote one hell of a song about the killing of the king of Hazor. Seriously, it was a real knee-slapper!

3: Jephthah swore to God that he would sacrifice the first thing he saw when he came back home if He would help him. Sadly, it ended up being his own daughter. This one was quite sobering. It reminds you of Abraham and Isaac, but this time, God does not intervene.

There were more judges, but the ones I mentioned were the ones that stood out to me the most. The book ends with a whole lot of depressing things, including an internal war within the Israelites themselves, namely verses the Benjamites. There was also the gruesome depiction of a woman being sliced into twelve pieces and shipped off to the different tribes--this happening after she was gangraped as well. The last two parts of Judges really just show how they just keep falling into sin, and it really was awful to read. Even the Levites became corrupted. You can't get much worse than when you lose your priest class.

Despite the ending, which really simply reported what actually happened, I highly recommend the book of "Judges," mainly because of Samson. I do not understand a person who does not enjoy reading through such an amazing moment in history as the advent of such a spectacular person. It made the whole book worthwhile.

Thank you for reading my blog! Did you enjoy it? Either way, you can comment below, or you can email me at tkwadeauthor@gmail.com. You can also visit my website at www.tkwade.com. Check out my books! Thanks!